» Sony HDR-TG1 4MP High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Super Steady Shot Zoom (4GB Memory Stick Included)

Sony HDR-TG1 4MP High Definition Handycam Camcorder with 10x Optical Super Steady Shot Zoom (4GB Memory Stick Included) Reviews

Customer Rating:
Summary: Terrific Second Camcorder
Comment: Other reviews have fairly described the pros and cons of the TG1. I own a Canon HV20 for "tripod events" - nothing beats HDV for image quality and low-light performance, and I always use a quality Senneheiser wireless mike for subjects greater than 10 feet away. But there are too many moments in life - of one's kids, mostly - that are over by the time you go get the beast, make sure there's room on the tape and juice in the battery. These are what the TG1 was designed for - it's your second camera, for the moments that normally get away.

I think the design and execution of the TG1 are brilliant. The IS and face detection work very well. Yes, I would have loved a mike input and an exposure button. But my guess is that Sony made these decisions of omission very carefully. If you have been waiting for a decent-quality shirt-pocket HD camcorder - as I have been ever since flash-memory models hit the market - didn't you expect to pay four figures for the early-adopters' privilege? Just think about it - this machine is roughly 30% smaller than its nearest competition, and Sony brought the price point for such exquisite miniaturization down to a level competitive with the other premium flash-memory camcorders. Every extra button or dial would have driven up the price of the unit. Design simplicity may have been a motivator as well - the camera's native point-and-shoot capability is just fine for about 75% of the moments most of us are trying to capture, and more buttons would make the unit a bit more geeky.

BTW, I have not had any trouble importing and manipulating AVCHD on my Lenovo T61 Thinkpad. The video editor is certainly meager - one can divide and trim the videos, and that's about it. But the DVD-AVCHD burning utility is fantastic. I had about twenty minutes of video from my first week with the camera. It took about 15 minutes to burn them onto a 25-cent DVD-R, and watch it on my Blu-Ray player (BDP-S350), and the daylight images were beautiful and sharp, even on a big screen.

From shooting my kids for the past week indoors and out, I have one other thought about the TG1's low-light drawbacks - they are more than outweighed by what I call 'form-factor-comfort'. It's not just the delay in getting out my big HDV unit that lets those little moments get away - the size of the tape units is inherently conspicuous and inhibiting, and my kids become self-conscious. The TG1 is roughly the size of my iPod, and its small size makes it much less intrusive in real-time. The little goofy moments when my 15, 13, and 8 year old kids all act like they're three years old are not perturbed by the TG1. This kid-comfort factor is of inestimable importance, in my opinion.

There might be two diametrically opposite subsets of first-time buyers who might consider this unit as their primary camcorder. First are tech-savvy young parents who are aware of the camera's limitations, but want to be able to grab a video with one hand while holding their baby with the other. The second would be techno-challenged people who happen to already own a blu-ray player (this may, admittedly, be a very small group).

Is there an early-adoption penalty? There is, always. Future cameras will be incrementally smaller, or slightly better in low light. But you only want an LCD so small, and the most critical limiter of low-light ability is the light-gathering ability - namely the size - of the lens. So until there is some great new video codec or a new chip technology, low-light performance won't be improved significantly without having a thicker unit. The most realistic expectation one might realize by waiting is having true 1080p resolution. But my kids get older, and less goofy, every day - 'damn good' now trumps 'even better' a year from now.

So do your research, read all the subjective and technical reviews you can, and remember the compromises inherent in the very smallness you seek. You won't find the best image quality and low-light performance unless you go HDV. But for a great second camera, you won't go wrong with the TG1.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Sony quality - Some issues
Comment: Pros: small, portable, easy to use, slick touch screen, compressed video formats look great (1080 in AVCHD and 720p in MPG format), 'Steady Shot' noticibly improves video, nice zoom and the still shots aren't half bad (has a tiny built in flash!), and *true* 5.1 surround! (5.1 or just stereo, your choice).

Cons: Not great in low light (including stills), battery time could be longer (I purchased a quick charging unit and another battery), memory is expensive (1/3 more than the average flash stick of comparable size), no mic input (windy days will kill audio).

WARNING: Do not expect ease of use with AVCHD format and MAC (long conversions given that you have the right software). However, with an upgrade to my Sony Vegas software on my PC, I am able to natively edit Sony's AVCHD format, and 5.1 surround. You can edit the SD format (720p MPEG) on a MAC.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: TG1 size is great and video is good
Comment: I just picked this camera up and found the video to be very good. I'm running an XP machine and I'm able to upload the video and play it fine. I've heard folks say you need a fast and powerful machine to run the huge files but I have not had any problems with that. I already figured the video quality wouldn't be as good as other products out there buy my opinion is what good is better quality if you don't have the camera with ya? This puppy will fit in your front pocket.
The image stabilization and zoom are great. It focuses very well on moving objects and clarity is good. Digital picture quality is useless with this camera. One other big negative is Sony doesn't ship you the HDMI to MINI HDMI cable so you have to go find one. These are not cheap. If you go to best buy expect to pay $75 min. If you want to play HD from the camera to you HD plasma you'll need this cable or a converter.
They are not easy to find either.
Low light video seems to be ok and better than other products I've tried.
In general it's the smallest solution with good video I can find.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Small, but soft video and dull colors.
Comment: I recently bought the TG1 and Sanyo HD1010 and posted a comparison clip on Vimeo.com

Overall, I found the image stabilization to be very good, but the video had muted colors and looked less detailed than that from the Sanyo.

Here are some things I really liked about the camera:
-built in lens cap
-slightly smaller size than Sanyo HD1010
-high quality metal body (titanium)
-matching case (extra cost)
-5.1 audio recording
-memory card plays directly on PS3

Here are thing I didn't like:
-Memory sticks are very expensive compared to SD cards, I found around 4x the cost
-The battery life is rather short, only around 45 minutes (vs 120 min).
-AVCHD are difficult to edit, can not be easily uploaded to Vimeo or Youtube without first editing on the computer. Sanyo's MP4 files can be uploaded directly.
-No in camera editing ability, can not even join or cut parts of clips
-Not able to record at 1080p
-No external mic or headphone jack
-Touchscreen has small buttons
-The menu structure is confusing
-No printed manual / comes on CD, I couldn't even find it online. My Macbook Air has no CD drive.
-It sometimes does not save the setting changes if allowed to power down on it's own. You have to press the power button after you are done making setting changes.
-No remote control included. Makes it difficult to watch clips on the TV unless you have a Sony Bravia TV which can control the camera.
-HDMI cable not included. It uses a mini HDMI cable as well.
-HDMI port is not on docking station, Mini HDMI on camera, so you have to plug it in every time instead of just docking it.
-No ability to change volume while playing a video on the camera. You have to exit out and go into a menu to adjust the playback volume.
-Playback screen only shows three thumbnails at a time, I couldn't figure out how to show many thumbnails at once.

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Customer Rating:
Summary: Great Video camera to take along, bad still pictures
Comment: I bought this a week ago, and the best thing about the HDR-TG1 is the size and shape, they fit in my front pocket and I can take it any where I go. The reason I bought this camera was for its size and portablity and HD and it perfectly matches my requirement al though I was thinking I could use this for all purposes including still images but the still images are not good.

Pros:
Size, and Shape
Great user interface both the front buttons as well as the on screen
Great Video footage but not as good as u see on HD TV broad casts
Great charging and connecting to the computer, u dont need to charge battery seperately hence its always ready to use

Cons:
Bad still images, horrible in low light condition
Sony should have supplied the HDMI cable, and the compnent cable they applied is too small, and I had to buy an extender switch to connect to my 65inches TV
The provided software is useless, its so difficult to even trim video, u can as well throw it away, al though there are not much choice for the AVCHD format. I tried convert the Video in mpeg but it does not play on quick time or Windows Media player, I think I may be missing a codec, but it has no way to save on standard codec, hence I cannot put videos on web as mpeg.

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